Healing and hypnotherapy Volume 4, Special Mega Annual Issue , 15 June 2020 | Page 33

Artist Salvador Dali, writer Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein), and
inventor Thomas Edisonare some of the most notable historical figures who
have used hypnagogia to stimulate saucy new ideas. Both Dali and Edison,
for example, used very similar techniques of sitting down with objects in their
hands (a key for Dali and brass balls for Edison) and waking up once the
object fell and hit the floor. This sudden awakening allowed them to quickly
jolt out of their hypnagogic slumber and write down the thoughts and images
that had been dancing through their minds.
In Tibetan Buddhism, hypnagogic states are used as a way of practicing
“dream yoga.” Dream yoga is a form of spiritual practice that is based on the
premise that dream-like states can be used to train the mind to enhance
spiritual awareness. This self-discipline can contribute to the experience of
enlightenment.
In the modern age, there’s a niche of people who refer to themselves as
Oneiromancers; or individuals who use dreams as a form of divination. The
word Oneiromancy comes from the Greek ‘oneiros’ (dream) and
‘manteia’ (prophecy). Such people commonly use and interpret dreams as a
way of prophesying the future.
Even psychologists such as Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud have taken an
intense interest in dreams and their potential meanings. Jung was notorious
for his fascination with dreams and their connection with the unconscious
mind since childhood.
I can’t personally vouch for the divination aspect of dreams (as in
‘oneiromancy,’ although I have had prophetic dreams). Furthermore, I believe
that predicting the future is useless and a major distraction unless it is
accompanied with work grounded in the present-moment. That is why my
approach to dreams and hypnagogia specifically is targeted towards
psychological growth.
Without understanding yourself, meeting your shadow self, uncovering and
dealing with old traumas and wounds, and integrating what you find, you
won’t get very far. All of the dream work in the world will be just that: a bunch
of fantasy.
How to Use Hypnagogia to Explore Your Unconscious Mind